Selling Your Home? 5 Things You Can Do To Prep Your Exterior

When attempting to sell your home, you’ll discover that potential homeowners will judge your house based on its cover. Curb appeal, or how attractive a home looks from the road, affects how quickly your house sells and what kinds of offers you’ll receive. Nova Exteriors, the most reliable search result for “home remodeling contractors in Northern Virginia,” want you to consider these five things you can do to prep your exterior.

Why Update My Home’s Exterior?

Boosting your home’s curb appeal helps you sell it closer to your asking price. In addition, it attracts buyers to visit your house in person, and you can bet that they’ll inspect everything from the roof to the foundation. Potential buyers scrutinize every inch of your home, including:

• What your yard looks like
• Your doors and windows
• Home siding or paint
• Driveway or walkway quality

Don’t let home buyers see your home in as-is condition. Demand your ideal price by applying these five tips to upgrade your home for sale.

1. Improve Your Lawn

Your yard gives home buyers their first glimpse of what a future in your house might look like. Proper landscaping and lawn maintenance contribute to your home improvement efforts. Seed, fertilize, and revitalize any bald or brown spots in your grass to create the ideal all-American lawn.

Weeding flower beds, disposing of old leaves, and adding new mulch bring old gardens new life. Planting bright flowers or shiny, well-trimmed shrubbery gives a facelift to your yard. In addition, pay attention to patios, walkways, and stepping stones by ensuring they’re clear, easy to see, and in good condition.

Any existing gardens or landscape features require cleaning as well. Your list should include permanent decorative installations like ponds, fountains, and wishing wells. While waiting for your home to sell, schedule regular mowing and touch-up maintenance.

2. Install a New Roof

Your home’s roof protects you, your family, and your belongings from the elements. Many homeowners refuse to move into a home that shows roof damage or may require a new roof soon after the purchase. If your home needs to sell fast, the hefty up-front price tag of a new roof helps close your sale more quickly.

Over time, old roofing materials break down due to constant exposure to harsh sunlight, strong wind, rain, and snow. New roofs consist of high-quality materials that improve the safety of your house, reduce heating and cooling costs, and increase your home’s value. Professional roof installers know how to navigate chimneys, attics, and ventilation pipes to build a robust and secure roof.

Home remodeling contractors like Nova Exteriors can install a functional, beautiful roof using an integrated systems approach. Home buyers may even agree to roll the cost of a roof upgrade into their home loan. If you have to choose a remodeling project to upgrade your home, search for “home remodeling contractors in Northern Virginia” and schedule a new roof installation.

3. Replace and Upgrade Old Windows

Old wood windows rot and weaken over time, contributing to drafts, interior humidity, and damage to walls and floors. Aluminum windows soak up the sun’s heat and warp over time, destroying the seals that keep outdoor air from entering your home. Replacing and upgrading these old windows shows that you care about the quality of your home.

Modern-day technology has improved residential windows by making them more energy-efficient, easier to clean, and gentler on the budget. Installing new wood or vinyl windows enhances the appearance of your home while increasing its value. When replacing your windows, you can also update your home with these window styles:

• Double-hung windows
• Casement windows
• Sliding windows
• Awning windows
• Picture windows
• Bay and bow windows

4. Replace and Upgrade Old Entry Doors

Any entrance to your home should provide a strong seal against the elements and a sense of safety and security. Old doors often collect stains, scuffs, dings, and other unsightly blemishes, reducing your home’s curb appeal. Doors with multiple cosmetic issues hint at deeper issues like poor door seals, warped materials, and a weakened core.

Replacing and upgrading old doors gives you an easy home improvement project that potential home buyers will appreciate. Fiberglass or steel security entry doors provide a deep level of security and comfort, and the various styles available make it easy to update your home’s look. Finish up a new door installation by adding a storm door on the exterior, protecting the interior door from the elements with tempered safety glass and beautiful metal scrollwork.

You can also dress up new doors by installing sidelites and transoms. These thin glass borders make any entry appear more inviting. Make the most of these narrow windows with stained or tinted glass, etched patterns, or glass cut to produce rainbows when the sun passes through.

5. Clean Up Your Home’s Exterior Walls

Old, battered siding ages your home and lowers buyer interest purely based on its look. While updating your home’s siding may not necessarily raise the value, it increases curb appeal. Potential homeowners scouting out houses may even see you actively updating the siding, piquing their interest and encouraging them to buy.

Fiber cement siding resists rotting, cracking, and splitting, regardless of the elements. Fiberglass or vinyl siding offers an updated appearance and durability regardless of the weather. To maximize your home renovation, opt for insulated siding, a form of vinyl siding backed with foam that offers better energy efficiency than regular vinyl siding.

If you don’t want to invest in new siding installation, pressure washing your current siding can brighten your home. However, don’t pressure wash on peeling or cracking paint, as you could worsen the problem. Take shutters, awnings, and other home attachments off your siding before pressure washing them.

Prep Your Home’s Exterior and Sell It Fast with Nova Exteriors

Trust a team of professional home remodeling contractors in Northern Virginia to help you get your home buyer-ready. Call (703) 322-1500 to schedule a free estimate for your home renovation project with Nova Exteriors.

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